I really didn't think this through.

Donna unfortunately only realized this as she turned the key in her apartment's lock. Nonetheless, she led Harvey across the threshold, blessing the poker face that hid her consternation. While her boss- her boss- stood looking curiously around him, Donna was thinking she had no idea what she was going to do next.

She had spent the entire car ride deliberating over whether or not to invite Harvey up to her apartment. She never considered what to do when he got there.

Technically she had been through this situation many times in her head. But those were pure imagination. And heavily influenced by wine, sleep deprivation, and Lifetime movies. Plus, fantasy Harvey always made the first move. Faced with reality, she knew the ball was definitely in her half of the court.

In an increasingly desperate search for inspiration, Donna copied Harvey's actions and glanced around her apartment. The bottle of scotch came to her rescue. She led Harvey to the couch and poured out the promised glasses. The tumblerwas cold on her lips when Harvey spoke.

"Hold on!"

"What?" Donna threw a glance his way. She really, really needed that drink.

"We need to toast." Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Fine." Donna looked at him expectantly. His idea. His toast.

Harvey stared into his glass for a moment. He turned to look at Donna with an odd look in his eyes to match an equally odd toast.

"Life is short. Don't dwell on the bad and don't waste the good.

Donna let his words settle for a moment. And then Harvey broke the silence again.

"My mother used to love the poem "Life" by Charlotte Bronte. That was how she paraphrased one of the verses."

"Rapidly, merrily,

Life's sunny hours flit by,

Gratefully, cheerily

Enjoy them as they fly"

(Charlotte Bronte, "Life")

Harvey stared at her, unabashed shock in her eyes. Donna was a little surprised with herself. She had recited that verse almost unconsciously, like a reflex.

"One of my high school English teachers had it above her door. I saw it everyday for nearly a year. It-" She paused. "It helped me through a few things."

She saw the question in his eyes, but he didn't press.

Thank God for that.

Now was really not the time to be explaining those "few things".

Donna envisioned the black letters, gracefully scripted on a simple white sign. The words were staring her in the face, a poetic reminder of why she had invited Harvey up here in the first place.

Silence followed her explanation and Donna knew she should start talking. But she felt a bit like a skydiver facing the 15 thousand foot drop. Yeah, she had decided to do this, but at the same time her brain was coming up with everything that could possibly go wrong.

Her mind was presenting its six hundredth worst-case scenario when Harvey's voice broke into her reverie.

"Donna? Are you okay?"

Harvey was speaking in what Donna called his "mother-hen" voice. It was a tone he only used when he was genuinely concerned and only with the select few he trusted with the knowledge that he had a beating heart.

Donna's mouth was literally forming the classic "I'm fine" response, when she paused. Even when she was miserable, the polar opposite of "fine", she had only ever answered that question one way.

But, hell, if she was going to be honest with Harvey, might as well start here.

"No. I'm not." Her answer shook him a little, that much was obvious. But this was Harvey Specter and the moment of surprise was brief. He leaned in a little closer- really not helping her thought process- and asked the obvious follow up question.

"What's wrong?"

She looked him full in the face- damn, he had pretty eyes- and sighed. She had got him all the way up her, poured him a glass of scotch, and spent a solid five minutes panicking over what to say. After all that she might as well just go for it.

"I lied to Mike the other night." She said abruptly. Harvey looked at her, smiling a little.

"Feeling guilty? Don't worry about it, I lie to Mike all the time. It's good for our image."

"This was different. It was about Rachel."

"Oh." Harvey blew out a breath and fell back into the cushions. "Poor kid, but he really didn't have a choice. It wasn't worth the risk."

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" Harvey frowned. "Donna you've said it yourself. Office romances are doomed from the start. Mike can't take that risk."

"What if they were it, though? What if it was worth it, in the end?" She stopped herself, but Harvey was already upright and staring.

"Did you watch a Lifetime marathon last night or something? Have romance movies corrupted your mind?"

"I just-" She hesitated, frustrated with herself and this whole mess. "I told Mike that he could do it. That the feelings would go away, eventually." The words were falling in a downpour now.

"The first part was true. He would be able to stay away. But the second part, the "eventually", that is total bullshit."

Here goes nothing.

"12 years ago, I met you and the first thing I had to do was keep myself from inviting you to drinks. Then 2 years later you asked me out." His jaw tautened and she knew he was remembering.

"Harvey, I didn't say no because I wanted to be professional and I thought office romances were doomed. I didn't even say no because I didn't want to date you. As ridiculously cliché and commitment phobic as this is going to sound, I liked you too much to go out with you. You were pretty much everything I wanted in a guy."

She ran a hand back through her hair, snarling the carefully prepared strands, as she remembered every time she had bit her tongue, ground her teeth, choking back the words that would reveal too much.

"And for a freaking decade I held a lid on it. I kept myself to friendly flirting and mentally cursing every stupid bimbo you had a one-night stand with. But it's been 10 years and I still get that little jolt every time I see you like some kind of lovesick teenager. It's been 10 years and you are still everything I want in a guy. And I've been stuck wondering that if it can last for that long who says it can't last a lot longer?"

Donna could not believe she had done that. She was staring at the wall, still not believing she had done that, when Harvey broke in.

"Is that a yes?" She stared at him, uncomprehending. She could practically feel neurons fizzling as they failed to keep up with the chain of events.

He clarified.

"It's 10 years late, but it's you so I'll take what I can get. Is that a yes to my offer for a date?"

Again Donna's mouth was a few steps ahead of her brain. Only this time words weren't on the agenda.

It instantly won the prize of best first kiss ever.

Later Donna would think that it was hot- really hot- but not rushed. Like there was nowhere else in the world Harvey would rather be.

In the moment her brain was not functioning. She wasn't even sure she was breathing. She pushed against him and he sank back onto the couch, tugging her down with him. Donna was literally lying on top of him when she pulled back. Harvey's perfectly brown eyes stared up at her from inches away.

She leaned her forehead against his, trying not to melt in the warmth that radiated from his body.

"Yes. Definitely a yes."

Hi, I am so so sorry this is late. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I wanted to say here, but I think I am reasonably happy with this. A couple of bits are missing but I didn't want to overdo anything. So what did you think?

Also if anyone would like me to write a specific Donna/Harvey story I'm up for ideas.

Thanks so much for reading and extra thanks to anyone who took the time to review!